Welcome

Welcome to the POZ/AIDSmeds Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and
others concerned about HIV/AIDS. Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the
conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning: Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive
and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a
username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own
physician.

All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators
of these forums. Click here for “Am I Infected?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ/AIDSmeds community forums.

We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please
provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are
true and correct to their knowledge.

Author
Topic: How many of you take anti-depressants? (Read 57772 times)

There's more to depression than the "blues". I remember when I was first diagnosed with depression. I wasn't "blue". I was angry. There was really no good reason for the anger. I remember walking around all day with my fists clenched. People were afraid to talk to me. I was never physically violent, just really nasty. I had trouble sleeping and stupid things would really bother me. I remember when I started taking something called ludiomil back in the seventies then the black cloud lifted. I was a different person. I developed empathy, which was new to me. I realized that my employer was using my nastiness to make money. I quit my job and went into another field. Anti-depressants really changed my life for the better. Some people say they take too many pills already. I say, well, it's just one more.

I've tried to quit the anti-depressants a number of times over the years, sometimes in conjunction with therapy. The "black cloud" would always return. It might take a month or so, but it would return. I'd have to start on the meds again and it would take almost ten weeks to feel better again. After that I just began to look at the med as a vitamin for the brain. I don't think I'll ever try going off of them again.

I was offered to go on anti-depressants, but having my partner and one particular family member who is not too keen on drug therapy in regards of depression, I enrolled on alternative treatment with a basic concept of nerve healing therapies/practices. Its a slow process (which could be a downfall in a fast living life!) but has worked miracles on me, and I take no drugs ( I was clinically depressed)

I think that's complete bull. (Why not say that to keep busy and fit will cure aids as well.

Chronical clinical depression is a disease and can be correctly diagnosed. It is not the same as feeling blue, or "feeling depressed". I think it's demeaning to suggest to keep busy will cure depression. I work more than full time and I'm very fit. The HAART therapy on the contrary has very little side effects for me, chemical stuff in itself is not a bad thing. My cd4's are 1205.

Joe, read the title of the thread... "How many of you take anti-depressants?". I don't think the title was "How many of you are clinically depressed". Focus...

I do know that if I let my activity level drop, my motivation to even get out of the house is very low. Keeping busy, on a regular schedule (work, exercise, etc) DO help ME. I didn't say that they help everybody. I think it's unfortunate that you discount the experiences of others. HAART therapy has few side effects for you but horrible side effects for others. How can you say depression affects everybody the same? Just my thoughts.

In my case, I recently stopped taking anti-depressant medication.After starting HIV drug therapy 2 1/2 years ago, I really had troublewith depression, mostly like due to the Sustiva. So I tried a seriesof anti-depressant medications (Serzone, Effexor, Wellbutrin, andCymbalta). None of them helped me, and some of the side-effectswere really terrible (especially the sexual side-effects, but plenty of others too, like insominia).

So two months ago I decided to stop anti-depressants altogether.I still feel depressed -- but no worse or better than before. At leastI'm not taking medications that, for me, had no effect. I wish I couldfind one that was effective for me, but none so far.

Regards,

Henry

Logged

"Life in Lubbock, Texas, taught me two things: One is that God loves you and you're going to burn in hell. The other is that sex is the most awful, filthy thing on earth and you should save it for someone you love." - Butch Hancock, Musician, The Flatlanders

I have been on anti-depressants for several years now. Presently on Effexor-XR. I have been on others as well. Talking about depression sometimes is almost like talking about politics or religion, many different views and opinions. It can't been seen under a microscope so for some people, and even some doctors, it does not exist. I think we all find what works best for us and that is what makes it the right thing to do.

I take 300 MG of Wellbutrin XL and 10 MG of Celexa per day. Are they magic? No. But they have made a huge difference in my life. Before I felt like was at the bottom of a dark well. The anti-depressant meds gave me the opportunity to see some light up there and climb out on my own.

I believe that what confuses many people is they do not understand how depression really "works" and how treatment is targeted, depending upon the source of your depression. For someone like Jacques, it appears that by changing some things and including exercise, that he was able to overcome his depression. For others of us, we are not so lucky and that is when we must explore other treatments, often including both medication and therapy.

But that's where the rub comes in. If you have a chemical imbalance in your brain, until you fix that imbalance, therapy is rather useless, because without the stability provided by the meds, you can't focus on your issues to incorporate any of the therapy that you have been given. The best way I can describe it is that without the meds, I don't know that I am depressed, because all hope is generally lost.

With the meds, at least I know I am alive and not going insane by the torments in my head and by working with a good therapist, hopefully I can persevere and move on. I view depression as just another side effect of HIV and with any illness, you just treat it, in whatever fashion works for you.

We also need to be careful about jumping on people who have success with different treatments, because we are all different and we are here to share what works for us, not to disparage others for sharing what worked for them.

There's a difference between feeling depressed, being depressed and having depression, being self-diagnosed or by a doctor, being prescribed medecine or coming up with a cure of your own. My bad.I have a disease (depression) and therefore I take medicine (antidepressants).

There's more to depression than the "blues". I remember when I was first diagnosed with depression. I wasn't "blue". I was angry. There was really no good reason for the anger. I remember walking around all day with my fists clenched. People were afraid to talk to me. I was never physically violent, just really nasty. I had trouble sleeping and stupid things would really bother me. I remember when I started taking something called ludiomil back in the seventies then the black cloud lifted. I was a different person. I developed empathy, which was new to me.

I apologize if my posts made it seem like I was downplaying the gravity of clinical depression.

Since you bumped this back up Ihave, I'll play along. Even though I know depression is no laughing matter. Not saying you were but by my previous statement. That being said, I take Elavil which is an anti depressant but is not for that but for the pain I get in my arms and legs from time to time. I really try to take the pain til I can't stand it because it makes me wake up the next day feeling groggy. I couldn't see getting up that way on a daily basis, so I take it as needed which is what my doctor suggested.

I never thought about antidepressants. Maybe this could help me, at work I can be a real ass sometimes and I just don't know why.... I guess like most fags just because I can.... LOL.But seriously, I also have a job which requires high concentration over long periods of time. Are antidepressants known to change One's level of concentration??

I never thought about antidepressants. Maybe this could help me, at work I can be a real ass sometimes and I just don't know why.... I guess like most fags just because I can.... LOL.But seriously, I also have a job which requires high concentration over long periods of time. Are antidepressants known to change One's level of concentration??

Wouldn't it be nice if you took an anti-depressant and it actually improved your concentration? That would be sweet. Something to ask your doctor. But at the same time, no one wants to be too giddy in the workplace. Interesting points you raise with your question.

(Not to hijack but Ryeguy there's aromatherapy specifically for mental concentration. But it's expensive and might not work for everyone)

I took Remeron for a while, which made me put on weight.... not a good thing at the time for a body obsessed homo. So I quit. I probably should not have because I lived through a dark night of the soul which lasted about five years. It wasn't until I discovered that my spirit reacts very well to physical activity and my addictions are able to be focused on my own endorphins. For me, exercize is the most effective anti depressant.

Logged

Floating through the void in the caress of two giant pink lobsters named Esmerelda and Keith.

I am on Zoloft (depression), lamictal (bi polar 2), trazadone (sleep), and adderal (ADHD). I think some unfortunate events from my past have triggered the depression and I have finally accepted my doctor's diagnosis of bipolar 2 (I'm finally in touch with myself enough that I noticed the cycles for depression and hypermania ).

After my mother passed, my grandmother was severly depressed and never received treatment. I have mental illness on both sides of my family. I also have a cousin who is bipolar.

Numb, grey, little contrast between happy and sad... Difficult to laugh, Impossible to cry.Not sure if that's from the meds or from the depression itself. But after four months most of the suicidal ideology subsided. been on them for over a year now.It's difficult for me to say what the physical side effects are.

The reason I brought this up was because when I started Celexa in October, before my diagnosis, it was the worse feeling EVER. I woke up really dizzy, sleepy and didn't know where and why I was doing things. I would walk in the streets and feel very high and would have severe diahhrea. I took it for a week and then called my Psych doc and told her the side effects were very bad and she told me they were normal and to wait for 3 weeks for the side effects to slowly diminish. I went to week two and just couldn't handle the side-effects of Celexa and quit. I felt better the next day I quit. I am severely depressed now and go to therapy, support group and all but I feel I need more. I wonder what pills would work best with little side effects.

I took Remeron for a while, which made me put on weight.... not a good thing at the time for a body obsessed homo. So I quit.

It's great though for someone who just suffered a weight loss and has insomnia. I took it for about 3 years but stopped last year when I started to go over my "baseline" desired weight. I remember the first weekend I took it I went for a weekend visit at some friends out in the country and at half an apple pie after dinner. I also liked the sedative effect, though unlike others here I never felt groggy when I woke up.

LIFE is not a race to the grave with the intention of arriving safelyin a pretty and well-preserved body, but, rather to skid in broadside,thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming--WOW! WHAT ARIDE!!!

I'm gonna ask my Doc about prozac, today I was such a bitch at work. I just cant help myself when co-workers become sooooo stupid. Maybe an anti agresive non-bitch pill would be best fo rme:_)))

LOL, a chill pill. That's what I need too And a pill to make me a nicer person would be nice too.

All joking aside, can anyone here talk about any "good" side effects of taking anti-depressants? Now that I can no longer afford the high price of being "nature boy" (i.e., aromatherapy), I think I should look into some sort of mood control via chemicals

I have been on anti-depressant's for years, even before HIV entered my life, I tried to go off of them about a year ago and I pretty much crashed, I could barley even work. I thought I could go without them and boy was I wrong. My doctor told me not to do that, and to stay on them. I just didn't think I would need them forever. Oh lucky me...

Shit all my life ive needed one drug or another. Pills are in my life to stay and pretty much have been since i was 8! I was ADHD way before it was cool.

I normally do have a glass is half full type outlook on life and constantly remind myself how lucky I am to be alive and in a decent country (current douchebag leadership aside). I won the genetic lottery and this helps with my outlook for the most part.

I try to remember that I'll never get out of this thing alive and that just when I start to think about how bad things are going, I think of a pediatric cancer center, or a burn unit.... and I never seem to have a problem reminding myself it is really never that bad afterall.

I do love my pills tho.

Logged

LIFE is not a race to the grave with the intention of arriving safelyin a pretty and well-preserved body, but, rather to skid in broadside,thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming--WOW! WHAT ARIDE!!!

I don't know how I missed this thread since "depression" is my middle name. My clinical diagnosis was made in 1994 but in retrospect my psych and I realize the first bout occurred when I was in 4th grade. The diagnosis is dysthymia, or chronic "low-grade" depression, coupled with regular bouts of severe depression. I would be dead if I hadn't started taking anti-depressants.

Currently I take paxil, elavil, seroquel, klonopin, and adderall. Paxil and elavil help with depression and anxiety, seroquel and klonopin help me sleep, and adderall gives me enough energy to get the basics taken care of, like walking the dogs, feeding everyone, cleaning litter boxes, etc. I've had a problem with fatigue since 1994 and after contracting chronic hep B in 2001 I have never recovered the stamina and energy I used to have.

Some folks look at what I'm taking and say "you need the adderall to wake you up from the klonopin and seroquel" but they're wrong. I've been taking klonopin for so long I'd have to take 20mg to be hung over the next day (I take 4 - 6mg). I started taking adderall in 2003 because fatigue and lack of energy caused by the hep made me sleep all day.

In reading through this thread I noted a few people don't believe anti-depressants are useful, or believe they can handle depression through exercise, meditation, kewpie dolls, etc., or who don't even believe depression is a true illness. I'm happy you apparently have never dealt with severe depression but you might as well tell a diabetic not to use insulin. Depression is as physical an illness as AIDS and it can be just as deadly.

I am a born skeptic and after trying a few anti-depressants, some with awful side effects, I almost threw in the towel. The day I started taking paxil my entire life changed. The incessant anxiety disappeared. The desire to be dead vanished. I went to see a movie by myself that day, something I'd never been able to do due to absurd self-consciousness bordering on paranoia.

We are each a grab-bag of biochemicals and some of us have imbalances that cause any number of mental health problems like depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive behavior, bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia, etc. Those of us who are lucky will find a med that ameliorates the imbalance and allows us to live a more "normal" life.

Boo

Logged

String up every aristocrat!Out with the priests and let them live on their fat!

I took Paxil when i was like 13 (before they knew that it can cause teenagers to think suicidal thoughts hehe at least i know why i thought i was going crazy back then).....said i haid social anxiety disorder hehehe

I also took seroquel for a while but that made me feel like i was hit by a bus everyday for about 2 months so i said fuck that :-O (dont know how people take that stuff)...

take a xanax every now and then but not often

Who wouldve thought at 18 I became a stripper and took my clothes off for money (im over that shit now though hahaha...not really something someone with social anxiety would do :-O)....Ive been on Wellbutrin 300mg for about 3 years now and i notice everytime i stop taking it i lose focus and feel like crap...so ill keep taking it ffor now hehe...

There's more to depression than the "blues". I remember when I was first diagnosed with depression. I wasn't "blue". I was angry. There was really no good reason for the anger. I remember walking around all day with my fists clenched. People were afraid to talk to me. I was never physically violent, just really nasty. I had trouble sleeping and stupid things would really bother me. I remember when I started taking something called ludiomil back in the seventies then the black cloud lifted. I was a different person. I developed empathy, which was new to me. I realized that my employer was using my nastiness to make money. I quit my job and went into another field. Anti-depressants really changed my life for the better. Some people say they take too many pills already. I say, well, it's just one more.

I've tried to quit the anti-depressants a number of times over the years, sometimes in conjunction with therapy. The "black cloud" would always return. It might take a month or so, but it would return. I'd have to start on the meds again and it would take almost ten weeks to feel better again. After that I just began to look at the med as a vitamin for the brain. I don't think I'll ever try going off of them again.

Hey everyone. Wondering if other members here could speak on the anger thing. Did anti-depressants help you with rage issues? Now that I can no longer afford expensive aromatherapy (Medicaid doesn't cover it, it never did ) I think I totally need to look into anti-rage options.

My doctor put me on Effexor when I voiced concerns about depression. Now I realize that the Atripla (Sustiva I assume) was making me paranoid (I would wake up in the middle of the night paranoid about something someone said during the day), depressed and my self-esteem was suffering as well. I also notice I feel intelligent (clarity and focus) again and less angry at the world when things don't go my way, I look for solutions.

Antidepressants work for some and not for others. I fall into the second category. I've tried several of them over the years and all were completely useless. I find the cognitive behaviour therapy Iím involved in much more effective.

"Clients who are comfortable with introspection, who readily adopt the scientific method for exploring their own psychology, and who place credence in the basic theoretical approach of cognitive therapy, may find this approach a good match. Clients who are less comfortable with any of these, or whose distress is of a more general interpersonal nature -- such that it cannot easily be framed in terms of an interplay between thoughts, emotions and behaviours within a given environment -- may be less well served by cognitive therapy. Cognitive and cognitive-behavioural therapies have often proved especially helpful to clients suffering from depression, anxiety, panic and obsessive-compulsive disorder."

I am not currently on antidepressants, but I was before I was diagnosed HIV positive. I use to take Remeron and I also took Wellbutrin. Since becoming positive I have realized that I am not the same jovial person that I once was. I am thinking about making an appointment to see a Psychiatrist becasue I was once diagnosed as having major depression.

Jeffrey, I am also now on Cymbalta (60mg). I am supposed to take one a day, but due to the high cost of the drug ($60 copay for me) I am only taking it every other day. It seems to be working pretty well for me.

Alan

Logged

"Remember my sentimental friend that a heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others." - The Wizard of Oz

holaI take 40mg/day of Citalopram (celexa) which works pretty well for me and I certainly wouldnt ever want to be without. I upped the dose after diagnosis but was on the pills for many years before. Previously I had tried a number of other SSRIs with immediate and hideous side-effects, so I would suggest to anyone who has tried one drug and had problems that they try another because they are all so different, and what disagrees with one person may work wonders for another.good luck!oh, and I find that co-enzyme Q-10 has helped a little as well...

"I'm not keen on the idea of the afterlife - not without knowing who else will be there and what the entertainment will be. Personally I'd rather just take a rest." Oscar Berger, PWA: Looking AIDS in the Face, 1996. RIP.

Antidepressents, sure I think I have been on everything. At this time I am on a cocktail that seems to work well for me. Prozac, Busprine, an occasional Xanax and for those manic days Ruspridol. I have taken Effexor with this whole cocktail at times, or wellbutrin.I am of the firm belief that someone on antideprresents needs to couple that up with therapy so I do see a therapist. I have been known to even see two at once. A cognitive therapist that I can use as a sounding board, although I have been known to play with their minds a bit, so I have to have a sharp one. I also like to do some experiential therapy, and movement therapy. (I dance it off)PeterI have been on litium, serequal, lamictal and what have you at different times. Gee I sound like a psycotropic fanatic!!!!!!

the doctor gave me 50mg trazodone to help with sleep and the bad dreams. (i cut them in half)The doctor,nurse and the wife all talk about antidepressants for me to deal with the depression I tried aidsmeds forums instead. making a few friends here to have someone to talk with about it (thanks for talking with me this week rapid rod)And a little education from the lessions section here. I will do the doctors on my own this week with out letting the wife deal with it and me being in denial.I'm done feeling sorry for my self and I'm done saying I'm sorry. I'm going to enjoy life and thank god I'm better off than some of the folks that post here. seems my problems are small at the moment. health is not bad.i think its getting better. only the wife knows for sure.

I took them for the first two years of my diagnosis. Since then I've stopped taking 'em. If my life is going to rely heavily on pills I refuse to rely on something to make me happy, so I go on long walks and it seems to work wonders.